Business &amp; Accountancy Daily

Pensions

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Tax | Government publishes draft legislation for Finance Bill 2017

The government has published nearly 400 pages of new tax legislation setting out the draft provisions for Finance Bill 2017 for technical consultation, including changes to National Insurance contributions, clampdown on salary sacrifice contracts for new car schemes and simplification of PAYE Settlement Agreements

5 Dec 2016

Tax | Manchester United manager’s tax affairs on the spot

Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee (PAC), has called on HMRC to investigate newspaper claims that José Mourinho, manager of Manchester United Football Club, moved millions of pounds offshore to avoid tax

5 Dec 2016

Finance | Government tightens rules for £100K grants to counter fraud

After a series of scandals surrounding abuse of the government grant system, the Cabinet Office has issued a rigorous set of rules to tighten up the approval process and ensure strict oversight of government grants to charities and commercial organisations

5 Dec 2016

Finance | ICAEW issues new guidance for pensions trustees

ICAEW has issued updated guidance on master trusts in a bid to help pension trustees demonstrate good governance standards, by bringing its voluntary assurance framework in line with current legislation and codes of practice issued by The Pensions Regulator

5 Dec 2016

Pensions

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Business | New ‘duty to report’ on payment practices

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has set out measures to increase the transparency of payment practices to support small firms by introducing a ‘duty to report’ for large businesses and limited liability partnerships (LLPs), who will have to publish details twice yearly on their payment practices and performance from April 2017

5 Dec 2016

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Finance | International reporting: comparability and insurance accounting

Jeroen Van Doorsselaere, IFRS expert at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services on troublesome insurance accounting and disclosure requirements

5 Dec 2016

Finance

Accounting Standards

Financial Reporting

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Tax | HMRC plans to simplify clearances for EIS and venture capital schemes

HMRC is consulting on ways to streamline clearances for companies using the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes and EIS/SEIS, as the number of applications has increased threefold creating problems with service levels at the tax authority

5 Dec 2016

Tax | Consultation on changes to UK VAT grouping

HMRC is to consult on whether to make changes to UK VAT grouping following decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)

5 Dec 2016

Tax

VAT

Consultations

Tax | Autumn Statement 2016

Summary and analysis of Autumn Statement 2016 including salary sacrifice clampdown, pensions money purchase annual allowance, flat rate VAT rise, alignment between NICs and income tax

5 Dec 2016

Tax | Government VAT donation on Christmas charity single

Chancellor Philip Hammond has shown some Christmas goodwill in announced that the VAT on sales of the X Factor winner’s charity single will be donated to two children’s charities

5 Dec 2016

| KPMG takes over investment trust audit from PwC

KPMG is to take over the audit of investment trust Standard Life European Private Equity Trust (SLEPET) after incumbent auditor PwC decided to resign its role citing restrictions on its ability to provide non-audit services

5 Dec 2016

Auditing

2 Dec 2016

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Business | Buying a business - due diligence and potential risks

When eyeing up a potential merger or acquisition it is essential to ensure that due diligence is top of the agenda when buying a business to avoid any unexpected contingent or liabilities. Mercer & Hole's Caroline Stark and Phil Fenn consider the key issues when planning a merger and acquisition

2 Dec 2016

Restructuring & Insolvency

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Finance | Lords seek FRC clarification on true and fair

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has so far remained tight-lipped on requests from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee to clarify what constitutes ‘true and fair’

2 Dec 2016

Tax | OTS warns of tax blackhole from gig economy

HMRC is facing significant compliance issues with the rise of the so-called sharing and gig economies as it is not clear how tax on any income should be assessed and collected, according to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS)

2 Dec 2016

Tax | HMRC fails to set out contingency plan for Making Tax Digital rollout

HMRC has not agreed contingency measures with the Treasury should it run into difficulties with plans to digitise the tax system, and must take action to ensure it has a credible plan to make savings without damaging customer service, according to a report by the public accounts committee (PAC) which says its performance remains below par in several key areas

2 Dec 2016

Tax | Plans for EU one-stop shop for online VAT payments

The European Commission is proposing to simplify rules for e-commerce across EU country borders by introducing a one-stop shop for online VAT payments that will cover goods as well as services, in a move which it says will cut compliance costs by 95%

2 Dec 2016

Tax

VAT

Politics

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Finance | Poor governance at footballer Didier Drogba's charity

The Charity Commission has issued an action plan for the Didier Drogba Foundation, after an inquiry identified governance failings, but said there was no evidence to support claims of fraud or corruption at the charity which was set up by the former Chelsea footballer and Ivorian international

2 Dec 2016

Charities

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Business | Finance mole: Monkey bar’s so last year

During an offsite meeting with head office, Finance Mole is caught off guard in the once uber-cool Monkey Bar

2 Dec 2016

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Business | Minimum £1m penalty introduced for breaching financial sanctions

The Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) will be able to impose penalties of up to £1m or 50% of the financial sanctions breach, depending on which is higher, from April 2017

2 Dec 2016

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Business | 75% of accounting graduates fear jobs will be taken by robots

Three-quarters of graduates looking to pursue a career in accounting are concerned that automation could make their role redundant within two decades, according to research from online forum WikiJob

2 Dec 2016

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| People in the news: Crowe Clark Whitehill, JW Hinks, FRC

This week's news of professional moves in the sector includes a head of forensic and counter-fraud services at Crowe Clark Whitehill, JW Hinks gains a business services supervisor and tax consultant, FRC appoints a Board member

2 Dec 2016

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Business | Eight-year ban for financial services director with inadequate accounts

The director of two financial services companies has been disqualified for eight years after an Insolvency Service investigation found he had failed to keep adequate books and records to account for some £5m of expenditure

2 Dec 2016

Restructuring & Insolvency

Called to Account

1 Dec 2016

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Business | Practice development: the future of the accounting profession

Amid regulatory, technological and political volatility, Calum Fuller, assistant editor at Accountancy, looks at the future shape of the UK’s accounting profession in the face of a spate of mergers and consolidations

1 Dec 2016

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Tax | HMRC ‘complicit’ in Concentrix tax credit check failures

A scathing report on the outsourcing of tax credit checks has accused HMRC of being ‘complicit’ in a ‘cut first, think later’ approach, and claims the department was negotiating the renewal of the contract with supplier Concentrix up until four days before public outcry forced HMRC to terminate the deal

1 Dec 2016

Tax | Editor’s comment: HMRC remains quiet over MTD

HMRC has kept a low profile in the Making Tax Digital campaign with a lack of communications to the actual end users, bar a deluge of technical consultations, something HMRC may grow to rue in the future, says Sara White, editor, Accountancy

1 Dec 2016

Finance | CPD module - property, plant and equipment under FRS 102 - NEW

This month's exclusive CCH Daily CPD module focuses on FRS 102 and the treatment of capital versus repairs in annual financial statements, outlining the differences and enabling reporters to understand how to distinguish between the two items under new UK GAAP reporting rules

1 Dec 2016

Tax | MPs warn against rushed MTD implementation

Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury committee, has challenged the government over its planned timetable for HMRC to introduce its flagship making tax digital (MTD) scheme, warning that announcements made in the Autumn Statement suggest there will need to be delays to the proposed 2018 start, or implementation will be very rushed

1 Dec 2016

Finance | Updates to IFRS Foundation constitution

The trustees of the IFRS Foundation, responsible for the oversight and governance of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), have amended its constitution, reducing the size of the board from 16 to 14 and reclassifying the geographical distribution of trustees

1 Dec 2016

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Tax | OECD countries report revenues at all time high

Tax revenues collected in advanced economies have continued to increase above last year’s all-time high, with taxes on labour and consumption, particularly VAT, representing a rising share of the total, according to OECD research

1 Dec 2016

Business | Government to review gig economy

The government has begun a review of modern labour market practices with a regional tour visiting different sectors, as part of a bid to examine whether there need to be changes to the tax and legal systems to match new ways of working and ‘disruptive’ business models

1 Dec 2016

Tax | Tax updates: December 2016

Revised code of conduct to curb excessive tax planning, confidentiality breach over Ingenious, Trump tax plan, Lifetime ISA rules fleshed out, application for tax postponement allowed

1 Dec 2016

Tax | Tax filing deadlines: Dec 2016 - Feb 2017

The key HMRC filing deadlines from December to February 2017 including PAYE settlement agreement, self assessment tax returns, PAYE cheque payments

1 Dec 2016

Business | Development updates: December 2016

Professional development news roundup includes PKF Cooper Parry fees hit £22m, Big Four and ICAEW meet Brexit minister, Shaw Gibbs and Grant Thornton expand, FCA caps pension early exit charges

1 Dec 2016

Finance | Audit updates: December 2016

In our monthly roundup of developments in audit and governance, IAASA consults on auditing framework for Ireland in FRC handover, PwC faces FRC tribunal over Connaught, IFRS revenue recognition hit for Rolls-Royce

1 Dec 2016

Auditing

Corporate Governance

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Finance | Accounting updates: December 2016

In this month’s roundup of developments in accounting and financial reporting, BT rings £145m accounts error alarm, £10m misstatement at IT supplier, FRC calls for disclosure on tax status

1 Dec 2016

Tax | VAT updates: December 2016

Graham Elliott, director, City & Cambridge Consultancy on effective VAT revision prior to date of registration, capital goods scheme, VAT cases

1 Dec 2016

Business | Called to account: December 2016

Former Co-operative Bank CEO admits misconduct, car dealer given suspended sentence for £113k fraud, accounatnt in £40k employer tax fraud

1 Dec 2016